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felt it deserved another thead so everybody will look again..

But does anybody use timers on other items? such as heaters or air pumps or any other item? (other than lights)
Because I've been thinking about using them on my heaters to turn them on at night and shut them off in the day. as it always gets colder in my place at night and warmer in the day (and majority of the time, nobody is there during the day, so body heat isnt whats warming it up)

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

Having a timer on a heater really doesn't make any sense as the heater only cycles on when the water temperature drops below what the heater is set at. When not cycled on it's not utilizing any electricity.

The only time I would think that you would want a timer on a pump would be if it is just used for creating decorative purposes and then you may want to have it turn off in the evening. However they consume such a small amount of electricity, why bother.

Another possibility is with a heavily planted tank I have read where an airstone is utilized at night as the plants are then consuming oxygen and putting off CO2 which I guess could be dangerous for the fish life in the tank, but even then it sounds a bit suspect to me.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

I agree with Old Timer, a timer on the heater isn't really necessary. The only time I considered one was when I wanted a heater in a tank set below the usual 68F. I ended up just leaving the temp at 50F (goldfish pond in the living room for those freaking out about two dozen words back).

If you run an air pump on a timer just make sure you've got a checkvalve installed properly. All you need is timer to click the pump off and the tank to manage to drain !

I'd considered a timer for the powerhead I had in the pond, I was always forgetting about turning it off and the current was rather strong to leave on all night...

^_^

I ran a sponge filter(with check valve) on a timer for a bucket I was growing live food in. The air pump annoyed me at night and I didn't really need it for filtration just to break up the film that formed on the top after a day or 2. Other than that I've found no reason to put anything but lights on a timer. I don't buy the cheap heaters that don't turn off when the water reaches a certain temp. They aren't reliable and the tank temp will fluctuate as the room temp does. For just slightly more you can have a heater that keeps a constant temperature in the tank no matter the room temp(unless it's warmer than the heater is set on). I did almost kill some fish when the heater was on 78F and the room got to 86F. Having a better heater doesn't keep that from happening. Although it did mean I could set the heater on 84F and it stayed constant even when the room was 20 degrees cooler at night.

I only use timers on my lights. The fishes have to sleep . I see no other need for them on a tank.

I once saw a really cool marine setup that had water pumps set on timers so that pumps set in opposite directions produced a "tidal flow "effect twice a day.The corals and inverts certainly did look very healthy in that tank.

That's a fairly common thing to do in a marine tank. You have to make sure the powerhead is rated for that use or they'll give out on you when you put them on a timer. It looks cool but I don't really know of any freshwater use. There aren't many bodies of freshwater that experience large waves or tides at various times of the day.